Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has apologised for a claim that some journalists who asked questions about Eoin Hayes’s shares in a company that provided military technology for Israel were only doing so because they were interested in government special adviser jobs.
Mr Gannon said what he had said was “poor comment” on his part.
He made the remarks on the Echo Chamber podcast. It was recorded before Mr Hayes admitted he divested shares, worth €200,000, in Palantir Technologies only after becoming a public representative and not before as he had previously claimed.
On foot of that new information coming to light on Tuesday afternoon, the Social Democrats leadership suspended Mr Hayes from the party.
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In the podcast, recorded before Mr Hayes’s admission, Mr Gannon criticised journalists for bringing the question up with the newly-elected Dublin Bay South TD.
“There are a couple of journalists who recognise there are special adviser jobs coming up. In other jobs you put out CVs. For these jobs you put front pages out,” he said.
He added a little later: “There are special adviser jobs coming up and this is how you flash your eyelids at them.”
On Wednesday, Mr Gannon said he wished to retract what he had said. “It was a poor comment for me to make and I apologise to journalists for having said it.
“Coming out of the last week I was exhausted. I had not been aware [of the date of divestment] at that stage. On reflection it was a poor comment,” he said.
Palantir is a big data company founded by billionaire Peter Thiel that, among other things, had a “strategic partnership for battle tech” with Israel.
Mr Hayes admitted on Tuesday that he divested his shares in the company in July this year, a month after being elected to be a member of Dublin City Council. He had previously said he had sold the shares before becoming a public representative.
On foot of his admission, the Social Democrats suspended Mr Hayes. Several party sources have said he is unlikely to be allowed to rejoin the party because of the serious nature of the manner in which he had misled his colleagues. In a message sent to supporters on Tuesday night, Mr Hayes said he had “misspoken” when explaining the divestiture of his shares.
Also speaking on Wednesday, Paul Murphy of People Before Profit said Mr Hayes should resign his Dáil seat because of the way he had misrepresented his candidature. He also said that he should give the proceeds of the divestment to Palestinian charities.
“We have our differences with Sinn Féin,” said Mr Murphy. “But the person who has lost out [in Dublin Bay South] is Chris Andrews. People thought there was equality on both sides in relation to the Palestinian issue. That was not the case.”
Mr Andrews was eliminated on the 12th count, when Mr Hayes was elected to the final seat in the four seat constituency.
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